


“If you were the only girl in the world”

by polikszena



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26669767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polikszena/pseuds/polikszena
Summary: "Whoever wants to hear me sing must be out of his mind.”Yet five years later, Lady Mary Crawley was standing by the piano, singing a song, along with Lady Edith, in front of an audience of recovering officers, the Crawley family, and the servants. They were all looking quite sane, Matthew stated in mind as he walked into the library with William. On the other hand, the woman at the piano seemed so different from the one calling him crazy five years ago, and he wasn’t the same either.Just a little addition to the concert scene in S02E04.
Relationships: Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley
Comments: 9
Kudos: 18





	“If you were the only girl in the world”

Mary was on her way to the garden when she heard someone playing the piano. Wasn’t Edith out in the village? Besides her no-one really played the piano, only around Christmastime, but this one was a bright summer day. She turned towards the drawing room and peeked inside, but she wasn’t expecting what she saw there.

Matthew Crawley was sitting at the piano playing a song Mary couldn’t recognise. He was so immersed in it that he didn’t notice that someone was watching him. Mary knew it wasn’t right spying on him like this, but she also knew he would jump up from the piano the moment he saw her, and she didn’t want that. She had just discovered a new, hidden side of him which she found entertaining and somehow exciting as well.

He didn’t have a great talent for music, but he could play better than her. Well, even Pharaoh, Lord Grantham’s dog could have played better than her. Matthew was going fairly well with the song then he hit the wrong key, snapping Mary out of her thoughts.

“Damn,” he mumbled. Then looking up, he realised he wasn’t alone.

As Mary predicted, he jumped up from the piano with his cheeks turning slightly red as he realised she must have heard him cursing. “I’m sorry, Cousin Mary, I didn’t see you there.”

“Oh, I didn’t want to disturb you,” she told him with a small smile. “I was just wondering who was playing the piano when both my sisters are out and we’re not even near Christmas.”

“I was just waiting for your father and got tempted,” he admitted, throwing a glance at the piano. “Your mother let me use it.”

“You don’t have one at home?” she asked.

“No, we don’t. I haven’t played the piano since I finished law school.”

“I think if you tell Papa about it, he will allow you to come over and practice on ours if you like,” she said. “Just don’t let Edith know about it. She wouldn’t rest until you sing a duet with her.”

And she would probably choose the cheesiest love song ever written and gather all the family to listen to it, she added in thoughts. Matthew let out a small laugh, but Mary wasn’t joking. She knew nothing would stop Edith from making a fool of herself.

“How about you?” he suddenly asked.

“The world has to turn on its head to get me sing with Edith,” she replied. It would be an absolute disaster.

“No, I didn’t mean to sing with Edith,” he said. “I meant if you’d like to sing with me.”

Mary had to raise a hand to her mouth to hold back her laughter. He must have been joking, she thought, but he looked so serious that she wasn’t sure about it.

“You don’t want me singing,” she declared, shaking her head a little.

“Why not? I heard you singing last Christmas.”

“When my voice melted into everyone else’s,” she said. She was surprised that Matthew could hear anything besides Lord Grantham, who always sang louder than the rest of the family. “And it was perfectly fine that way,” she added.

Implying that she was bad at something, surprised Matthew. He wasn’t expecting that of Lady Mary Crawley.

“Lack of confidence?” he wondered, with his lips curling into a smile.

“No, it’s common sense,” Mary replied quickly. “Or rather, good taste. Whoever wants to hear me sing must be out of his mind.”

Yet five years later, Lady Mary Crawley was standing by the piano, singing a song, along with Lady Edith, in front of an audience of recovering officers, the Crawley family, and the servants. They were all looking quite sane, Matthew stated in mind as he walked into the library with William. On the other hand, the woman at the piano seemed so different from the one calling him crazy five years ago, and he wasn’t the same either.

The library turned around with Mary when she spotted Matthew and William in the room. Suddenly, everything went blurred in front of her eyes; everything but his surprised smile as he saw her at the piano. She felt a wave of emotions rising in her chest, crawling towards her throat, making her voice go weak. She couldn’t continue the song, just stood there, unable to take her eyes off him. He was alive and well, back where he belonged.

Then he picked up the song, right where she left off, giving her some time to pull herself together. She found her voice again and joined him, as he walked over her and they finished the song together, with all the audience singing the last chorus.

Mary was standing by the window, watching the officers and her family chatting after the concert. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, and no-one could blame her as the rest of the family was also happy and relieved having their heir back home. Her gaze fell on Matthew who was talking to one of the officers, and despite she was glad to have him back, she felt her heart wrench, too, but she couldn’t really tell the reason why. She wanted to look away; however, it was too late. He noticed her.

“Was I dreaming or were you singing together with Edith?” she heard his teasing tone as he joined her by the window.

“Didn’t the world turn on its head?” Mary asked.

The smile faded from his face. It did turn on its head and being a soldier, he could watch if from the front row.

“Anyway, thank you for helping me out,” she continued, changing the topic. She was indeed grateful for not being left alone with her emotions in front of all those people.

“It was my pleasure,” he said, smiling again. “I finally got to sing with you. And as you can see, I’m still completely sane.”

Mary was surprised that he still remembered that encounter five years ago. She was even more surprised that _she_ remembered it as well. She let out a small laugh to cover it up.

“You know, there are always exceptions to the rules,” she said.


End file.
